That afternoon, Kanae returned to the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters with Shinobu and Kanao Tsuyuri. The moment they arrived, Kanae went to see Kagaya Ubuyashiki and informed him of everything that had happened during the mission.
"You actually encountered an Upper Rank. I failed to gather the proper intelligence for this mission. I'm deeply sorry, Kanae." Kagaya Ubuyashiki closed his eyes and sincerely apologized to Kanae.
As the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, every member of the Corps was like one of his own children. Whenever any of them suffered losses, Kagaya blamed himself more than anyone.
Seeing how guilty Kagaya looked, Kanae hurriedly comforted him. "Lord Master, this wasn't your fault. I was simply not strong enough."
"Kanae, you don't need to comfort me. The intelligence for this mission was indeed my mistake. Sending you there without properly investigating was a grave error. If Mr. Wind Sickle hadn't asked me about your whereabouts, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
"Enough, let's put that matter aside for now. I'll need to properly thank Mr. Wind Sickle afterward. Kanae, how strong do you think that Upper Rank demon you encountered yesterday was? How great was the difference between you and him?" Kagaya Ubuyashiki asked calmly.
At the mention of strength, Kanae's expression darkened. As the Flower Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, she had not only failed to kill her mission target, but had also been utterly defeated by an Upper Rank demon who had appeared unexpectedly. She truly felt she had let down the Lord Master's trust.
After taking a deep breath, Kanae slowly said, "Lord Master, I can't say much in detail, but one thing is certain: the strength of an Upper Rank demon far surpasses that of an ordinary Pillar-level Swordsman."
"I see... It seems the Pillar-level